This morning, Hue Central Hospital discharged a 45-year-old patient after a cross-country heart transplant. The heart was donated by a patient at Phu Tho General Hospital.
The discharged patient, a 45-year-old resident of Hue City, had recently received a heart via a complex, cross-Vietnam transport procedure.
On the morning of September 10, upon notification that a patient at Phu Tho General Hospital had consented to organ and tissue donation, Director of Hue Central Hospital Professor Pham Nhu Hiep immediately directed a medical team to perform the emergency organ retrieval.
The organ donor was a male victim of a traffic accident that occurred at 8:00 p.m. on September 8. Despite being admitted in a deep coma due to a subdural hematoma, and undergoing intensive resuscitation and surgical evacuation of the hematoma, the patient's neurological status did not improve, and his hemodynamics became dependent on high-dose cardiac and vasopressor medications.
Following three assessments confirming brain death and receiving the necessary consent from the family, surgical and resuscitation teams proceeded to retrieve multiple organs—specifically two kidneys, a liver, and the heart—at 1:00 p.m. on September 10. The retrieved heart was then transported to Noi Bai Airport and subsequently transferred to the Hue Central Hospital medical team for transit to Phu Bai Airport in Hue City.
The patient underwent the heart transplant in a state of end-stage heart failure, with extremely low cardiac function (LVEF 15–19 percent) and severe pulmonary hypertension.
Following the surgery, the patient’s heart function remained critically weak. Doctors placed a temporary pacemaker and administered cardiac and vasopressor drugs, but the condition continued to deteriorate.
To sustain circulation and gradually transition the patient off extracorporeal support, the team employed additional mechanical devices, including an intra-aortic balloon pump and ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation).
The patient was transferred to the cardiac intensive care unit for specialized care. After three days of intensive resuscitation, while heart failure slowly began to improve, severe renal impairment necessitated the implementation of continuous blood filtration therapy.
Director of Hue Central Hospital Professor Pham Nhu Hiep stated that the achievement of this heart transplant exemplifies the collaborative efforts, consensus, and effective coordination among various units. Beyond the expertise of the heart transplant team and the advanced circulatory support system at Hue Central Hospital, this success necessitated the close collaboration with the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center, the prompt assistance from the resuscitation team at Phu Tho General Hospital, the organ retrieval team from Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, as well as the extensive support from Vietnam Airlines, Phu Tho Provincial Police, Hanoi City Police, and Hue City Police.
Professor Pham Nhu Hiep showed his profound thank-you to all supporting units and, most importantly, expressing his deep gratitude to the organ donor and their family for their good deed which has provided a renewed opportunity for life to many patients suffering from end-stage organ failure.
